Beijing must end policy of intimidation in South China Sea, US warns

James Mattis speaks to delegates before the 17th Asian Security Summit in Singapore todayRoslan Rahman/Getty Images

The American defence secretary, James Mattis, has warned of “larger consequences” if China continues its programme of deploying weapons to manmade islands in the South China Sea.

Speaking at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue, an Asian security summit in Singapore, Mr Mattis said China’s actions were designed to intimidate and coerce other nations in the region.

“China’s militarisation of artificial features in the South China Sea includes the deployment of anti-ship missiles, surface-to-air missiles, electronic jammers and, more recently, the landing of bomber aircraft at Woody Island,” Mr Mattis said. “Despite China’s claims to the contrary, the placement of these weapon systems is tied directly to military use for the purposes of intimidation and coercion.”

Mr Mattis said maintaining freedom of navigation in the region was…

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